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I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language.

— Werner Heisenberg Das Naturgesetz und die Struktur der Materie (1967)

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More quotes by Werner Heisenberg

There is a fundamental error in separating the parts from the whole, the mistake of atomizing what should not be atomized. Unity and complementarity constitute reality.

Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language.

We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.

Physics and Philosophy (1958)

The more precise the measurement of position, the more imprecise the measurement of momentum, and vice versa.

The existing scientific concepts cover always only a very limited part of reality, and the other part that has not yet been understood is infinite.

Physics and Philosophy (1958)

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